or_sen_LIM

(CBS) 


JOHN LIM

Age: 61

Born: December 23, 1936 in Yeoju, Korea

Education: Western Evangelical Seminary, M.A. (1970); Seoul Theological College, B.A. (1964); Yeoju School of Agriculture (1954)

Military: None

Family: Married - Grace; 3 children

Hometown: Portland, Oregon

Religion: Christian

Career: Oregon State Senator (1992-present); Entrepreneur; President, American Royal Jelly (1972-present); President, Realty Resources (1986-91)

· Republican challenger John Lim was born Yong Keung Lim. In 1966, he immigrated from South Korea to the U.S. with his wife and son.

· As a child, he volunteered as a translator in an American church-sponsored orphanage and worked as a houseboy for U.S. Servicemen stationed in his town.

· In Oregon, he put himself through Western Evangelical Seminary by working as an apartment manager and janitor. To support himself, he also sold pots and pans.

· LimÂ's ARJ (American Royal Jelly) vitamin company had a humble beginning. When he first arrived in Oregon, he frequently invited Asian sailors at the Portland shipyard to church. The sailors often asked Lim to buy vitamins for them on his way to the shipyard. After a while, he started buying the supplements wholesale. At first he sold the supplements out of the back of his station wagon, then he bought a Volkswagon bus, then a cargo van. Eventually he opened a small shop near the port. Sailors continued buying vitamins from him when they returned home to Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. He and his wife, Grace, built the vitamin company from a two-person operation into an international health and beauty aide corporation with million dollar annual sales.

· In 1990, the political neophyte ran for the Republican nomination for Governor, but lost.

· Two years later, he ran for State SenateHis victory made him the only Korean-American to hold state office. Lim has accompanied two Oregon Governors on trade missions to South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan.